


I Can’t Let You Go

by ShowMeAHero



Series: Lightning in a Bottle [7]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Domestic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotions, Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, M/M, Magic, Major Character Injury, Trans Character, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-15 23:04:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15423606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShowMeAHero/pseuds/ShowMeAHero
Summary: Taako falls for a trap. Kravitz reaps some souls. Magnus has a little meltdown.





	I Can’t Let You Go

**Author's Note:**

> I'm basically a fic-making factory for this series. I'm just a little shitty machine, and all I pump out is incredibly niche fanfiction about a podcast for me and three other people to read on the internet.
> 
> Title taken from episode 4 of _The Adventure Zone,_ during Here There Be Gerblins, when Magnus says, "Now, this may be a little cheesy, but I can’t let you go."

Being the greatest transmutation wizard — hell, fucking greatest _wizard,_ skip the qualifiers — of all time comes with some pretty sweet perks, one of which is that Taako basically sets his own schedule. Ren loves running the school, loves teaching kids and loves lecturing and loves all of that shit, so Taako mostly leaves it all up to her. He does get to go and guest lecture, though, which is exactly what he’s been doing all day today.

He didn’t get to leave the school until late, mostly because kids kept asking him questions and, honestly, God help him, but he really does like those kids. They’re the best of the best and they all think he’s hot shit, so spending a day with them isn’t really such a hard time. It does mean, though, that he’s gotta walk home in the fucking dark, which isn’t always his favorite thing to do.

He cuts down to the woods that border the beach, because it’s a more scenic route and he likes being close to the water. He hums to himself, twirling his wand between his fingers as he walks in the sand, but he stops when he hears a twig snap in the woods. His grip tightens on the wand. He’s been around a long time, and a lot of that time was spent on his guard; he’s not stupid. He listens, frozen in spot, unmoving, but he doesn’t hear anything else. Just when he’s about to move again, he hears—

Crying? Like, a kid crying. He turns, ears twitching as he tries to listen, and, yeah, that’s a kid crying, pretty much hysterically. He looks back in the direction of home, where he can make dinner and meditate and sit with his own kids—

Thinking of his kids, he sighs, silently. He knows he’s gotta find out what the fuck’s going on, he’s just not happy about it. He heads for the woods, holding his wand in one hand and bending branches and twigs aside with the other, sneaking through the brush. He heads in the direction of the crying, ignoring what his better instincts are telling him. This is pretty much something Magnus would do, not something _he_ would do, but he’s already in deep, so he’s already on his way, fucking rushing in to trouble.

Taako hears someone whisper, and then the crying stops. He only has a split second of silence to process what’s going on before he sees a flash of light. He drops into a crouch in the same moment a spell blasts past his head, and he recognizes it as _Feeblemind,_ and he’s momentarily stunned at the mere thought of what would have happened if that had hit him.

He aims in the direction the spell came from, shuts his eyes, and casts _Sunburst;_ the backs of his eyelids turn red as the brilliant sunlight flashes around him, and he hears several shrieks, and then bodies crashing through the trees.

“Fucking _grab him,”_ he hears someone shout, and so he takes off at a sprint. Of _course_ it was a fucking trap, but he’s here now and he’s still glad he stopped because he probably would’ve been pissed with himself if he’d just ignored a kid crying in the woods. He ducks under a branch and keeps going, darting under branches and hurtling over rocks, moving as fast as he can. He’s about to cast _Blink_ when he gets hit in the back with a spell — it’s not _Feeblemind,_ this time, luckily, but it is _Inflict Wounds,_ and he goes down, hard. He can feel hands on him, and he can feel necrotic damage eating away at him, but he lashes out.

Taako squirms, flipping onto his back and casting _Disintegrate_ at the first shape he sees above his head. A thin green ray shoots from his hand, and suddenly there’s fine grey dust dropping over him. He sputters, coughing the dust up out of his mouth and lungs, and scrambles to his feet again. He spins around and casts _Acid Splash,_ and stands there, waiting, holding a bubble of acid in the air.

“Where the fuck are you fuckers?” Taako shouts. “I know you’re there. Come on, come get fucked up, you messed with the wrong _fucking wizard_ today, homies.”

Someone moves, and Taako hurls the bubble of acid at them. There’s a flash of light in his peripheral, and he gets hit with _Blight,_ and it knocks him over. He can feel the energy and vitality draining out of him all at once, and he stays on his knees, struggling to catch his breath. Another hand lands on his shoulder, and he casts _Sunburst_ again, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Fucking hell, he won’t stop,” another voice says. Taako sends another bubble of acid in the direction of the voice, and it curses. “Just— fucking knock him down, I don’t care, knock him out.”

Getting knocked out is just about the last thing Taako wants at this point, because then he can’t defend himself and also can’t see where he’s being taken, so he lifts his hand and casts _Poison Spray._ A puff of noxious gas shoots out of his palm, and he ducks his nose and mouth into his shirt, trying to filter his own air of the poison. Two spells shoot from his two sides at once: one is _Harm,_ and one is _Blindness/Deafness,_ and Taako gasps as his chest _squeezes,_ his head aches, and his vision vanishes, his hearing with it. He drops one hand down, holding himself up over the ground, vomiting onto the dirt. He still grips his wand with one hand, so he sits back on his haunches and lifts the wand.

Taako casts _Shocking Grasp,_ and feels the lightning course through him, springing from his hands out to everyone nearby. He can’t hear or see them, but he can feel the _thunks_ on the ground as they drop. He scrambles to his feet, feels blood dripping down his face, and he feels like his insides are being slowly poisoned, but he starts running again. He still can’t hear, but his vision is starting to blur back into place, a hazy darkness dotted by random shadows, unfocused by the spell. He casts _Sunburst_ a third time, directly into the air, hoping against hope that someone will see it and come out to help him.

Taako sees another flash, and _Finger of Death_ nails him in the back. He can feel the negative energy coursing through him, a searing pain that shoots through his veins and knocks him to the ground, landing on his side, a stick digging into his shoulder hard enough that he thinks it’s stuck there. There are hands on him, and there are blurred shadows all around him, but he can’t fight them off, not anymore. He tries, feebly, but he can’t get his hands to move. The hands on him move him, instead, and he’s being carried somewhere, but he can’t fight back.

“Stop,” Taako groans, trying to shift, trying to drop himself back to the ground. He can hear his own voice, can make out the whispered words of the people around him, finally. _“Stop,_ what the— what the fuck—”

“I thought you said he’d die,” a different voice says. Someone scoffs.

“He should’ve,” a voice replies. “He’s useless for the ritual if he’s still fucking alive.”

“We’ll bring him to Kevin, he can kill him and we can just do the ritual there,” the first voice answers. Taako’s in excruciating pain, but he still musters enough annoyance to being pissed that the guy who’s gonna kill him is named fucking _Kevin._

“Stop,” Taako repeats. He tries to get his hand out, but he still can’t move well. He’s dumped on the ground abruptly, without any indication that they’re reached their destination, and when he turns his face, he can see a flickering light. In fact, he can see lots of flickering lights: candles, all around where he’s laying on the ground. A shadow steps over him, rolls him onto his back, and lifts his arms up, both wrists held in one large hand.

“Stop fucking struggling,” a new voice says. Taako anticipates that this is Kevin. His wrists are bound with rope, and then there’s cold metal being slid along each of his palms. The pain barely means anything in comparison to the rest, but he still flinches. Someone slaps him across the face.

“Stop moving,” Kevin orders him. Taako wouldn’t be who he was if he took orders, so he tips his chin and spits in the general direction of Kevin’s face. He gets slapped again.

“Fuck you,” Taako snaps. The blade is pressed to his throat.

“Don’t fucking test me,” Kevin says, and then he goes silent. The blade stays at his throat, but there’s a hand on his chin, turning his face to one side, then the other. “Oh, my— Did you fuckers just grab him off the street?”

“Yeah, why?” someone asks. Kevin makes a groaning sound.

“You didn’t look at his fucking face?” Kevin demands.

“Uhh, no,” the person replies. “Why?”

“This is _Taako,”_ Kevin says. “Remember? From the fucking—”

“Oh, God, he’s the same one from the memory blast thing, isn’t he?” someone asks. “Oh, no—”

“Yeah, fucking _oh no,”_ Kevin says. “We’re supposed to be _necromancers,_ Amy. You think we’re gonna be able to kill this guy? You saw the whole thing, everybody knows that the Grim Reaper’s got a special watch on him, there’s no way the Dark King will let us take his blood essence.”

“The Dark King?” Taako asks. The hand on his chin tightens its grip; the blade presses closer to his skin. “You mean— Is that what you call Kr— Uhh, the Grim Reaper?”

“He’s fucking chatty,” someone says.

“You sure that’s really him?”

“Of course I’m sure,” Kevin snaps. “Are _you_ sure _you_ cast Finger of Death? Because he’s not fucking _dead.”_

“I can’t die,” Taako tells him, throat rasping. “I’m fucking Taako.”

He gets his hand in between himself and Kevin and casts _Sunburst_ yet again. He hears a familiar shout in another direction, and Kevin is screaming above him, and he grins as his vision starts coming back in full force. He kicks Kevin off of him as Kevin clutches at his own eyes, screaming still. He can see that he’s in the middle of a fucking spray-painted pentagram on the leaves, surrounded by candles and spilled blood. He gets up onto his knees and brings his hands up to his mouth, working at the knot on the rope around his wrists with his teeth.

“Eat my ass, you necromancer shit,” someone shouts in the distance. It’s familiar, and Taako realizes it’s Lup. Taako’s head snaps in her direction, and the sudden shift in his equilibrium sends him back down onto his elbows, groaning. Blood’s dripping from his nose, his ears, his mouth, and he’s gasping for air. The pain is still coursing through him, a searing, sharp pain that seems unending, and he curls in on himself. He doesn’t have much strength left, but he casts _Detect Heartbeat,_ and he can still feel his baby’s heartbeat, and he lets out a choked breath.

“I could use some help over here,” he rasps, as loud as he can. Someone runs in his direction, and then appear in his peripheral. He shifts, squinting above himself, and Lup’s face blurs into view.

“What the f— Why are you here?” Lup demands, hands going to his face, then to his throat. “Oh, God— _Barry!_ Fuck, shit, _Kravitz,_ get over here!”

“We’re a little busy, Lup!” Barry calls back. “There’s kind of a lot of them. How’s the patient?”

“It’s Taako!” Lup yells.

There’s a beat of silence, and then crashing through the leaves, and there are cold hands on Taako’s arms, turning him away from Lup and into — Kravitz’s lap, as it turns out, as he looks up at him.

“Hey, babe,” Taako whispers, the words scraping out of his throat.

“Why are you here?” Kravitz asks, sounding desperate. He’s in full reaper-mode, skull and blazing red eyes and all of it, and Taako can’t coordinate his hands well enough to reach up to him like he wants to.

“Got got,” Taako tells him. “Hey, I don’t mean to— I don’t wanna rush your job, or anything, but they got me fucking good and I’m all out of spell slots, so—”

“Barry,” Kravitz says, and before Taako can blink, he’s getting transferred from Kravitz’s hold to Barry’s. “Bring him home. I’m going to reap the necromancers and bring them to the Raven Queen myself.”

“Krav, I don’t—” Lup starts to say, but Kravitz turns on her, all bright red and bones and Taako gets a little chilly looking at it.

 _“Go,”_ he orders them. Lup stands up, and Barry struggles to his feet, hoisting up Taako’s dead weight in his arms in a bridal carry. Kravitz stops him, lays one hand along Taako’s cheek. “I love you.”

“Same, kemosabe,” Taako says back. Kravitz presses his bony forehead to Taako’s, then kisses him there at his hairline with his bone mouth, and Taako shivers. Kravitz turns, and Taako watches him as smoke and thunder-clouds gather around him, his arms raised as he strikes down the necromancers. Taako doesn’t really know how to feel about that, but he’s saved from having to think about it when Lup gets in front of him again, holding his face between her hands.

“We’re gonna get you home, and everything is gonna be alright,” Lup tells him. “Barry’s gonna take you home. I’m gonna go get Merle.”

“Get a healer instead,” Taako whispers, and Lup huffs a laugh, pushing hair out of his face.

“You’re fucking insane,” Lup says. She kisses him right between the eyes. “Go home. I’ll be there soon. Stay alive, okay?”

“Fucking trying, my man,” Taako tells her. She kisses his forehead again, hard, then releases him, leaning over him to kiss Barry.

“I’m gonna get Merle and Lucretia,” Lup says to Barry, above Taako’s head. “And— I’ll make sure Krav gets home in one piece.”

“Stay safe,” Barry says, very softly. Taako snorts, but he really does appreciate how much Barry loves his sister, but he _also_ has a lot of blood going out of his body, and the blood _inside_ his body feels like it’s boiling, so he’s doing his best.

“Take him home,” Lup says again. Barry turns and rips a hole in the fabric of space, and Taako feels sickened just from seeing it. When Barry starts to step through it, Taako writhes, trying to push away from him, because his pain doubles, which he didn’t think was possible.

“Oh, God, the necromantic— Don’t, no, stop,” Lup says, tugging on Barry’s arm. “Carry him home, just walk him over, it’s not that far.”

“Okay,” Barry agrees. He takes off at a run, and Taako buries his face in Barry’s robes. He’s trying not to make any noise, trying not to let on how he’s feeling, but he feels like he’s closer to dying than he’s ever been, which is wild, because he’s died more than once before.

“Hey, keep your eyes open, man,” Barry tells him. Taako hadn’t even realized he’d closed them, so he blinks them open again. He can see the ocean next to them as Barry jogs across the hard, packed sand near the water. He gets to the hill and starts up it, but Taako can see a light in the distance, near their house. He realizes, belatedly, it’s their door getting flung open.

“Hey!” Magnus’ voice calls. “That you, Barry? Who’ve you—” Magnus’ voice cuts out, and at first Taako thinks he can’t hear anything, but it’s Magnus who stopped talking.

“Oh, geez,” Barry says. “Magnus is running down here.”

 _Ahh,_ Taako thinks. Magnus saw him. He lifts his head, and he can see Magnus barrelling down the hill, faster than he’s ever seen him go, and then he’s right in front of them, gingerly taking him out of Barry’s arms, holding him tight against him.

“Lup’s bringing Merle and Lucretia,” Barry tells him, as Magnus sets off back up the hill, running faster than Barry had been at any point. Barry’s panting beside them, trying to keep up. “Krav’s taking care of the necromancers. I’m not sure what happened to him, we got called in on a bounty for a group of dark necromancers and we were knocking them all off when Lup started screaming for us, and it was just— Taako, on the ground, like this. We didn’t even know he was there.”

“He was supposed to be at the school,” Magnus says. He sounds like he’s crying, which— Well, yeah, of course he is, it’s Magnus. Taako sees the light of their house in the darkness, and Magnus barrels through the front door, bringing Taako over to the couch. He lays him down so slowly, so carefully, tucking a pillow under his head.

“God, what happened to him?” Magnus asks. He smooths Taako’s hair back from his face, big hands gentle on him. “What happened? What can I do?”

Taako motions up, towards his throat, because he can feel the wound there bleeding sluggishly, and he knows Magnus can’t help purge the spells out of his system. Magnus’ hand goes over Taako’s throat, stemming the flow of blood, and he looks up at Barry, desperate.

“There’s jars,” Taako says. “In the— cabinet. Next to the fridge. They’re labeled.”

Barry runs off to the kitchen, and Taako just looks up at Magnus. Magnus still has one hand over his throat, the other hand stroking his face, over and over.

“You’re going to be okay,” Magnus tells him. He’s got tears streaming down his face, but his voice is steady. “I promise. You’re going to be alright.”

Taako doesn’t have time to say anything before Lup cracks back into the room, dragging Merle and Lucretia in behind her. Angus comes into Taako’s line of vision at the same time, already in his pajamas, eyes wide behind his glasses.

“Sir, you should’ve called me,” Angus says, and he casts _Dispel Magic_ over Taako, and the spells stop rolling through Taako, leaving him gasping for air.

“Thanks, pumpkin,” Taako rasps. Angus looks at him, just staring, looking horrified. Merle shoves him out of the way, and Taako can’t see him anymore as Merle sets to work over him. Barry comes back with a couple of potions, and Lup helps Taako sit up enough to drink them. The sharp pains in his chest lessen a bit, and he can breathe better.

“What’d they get you with?” Merle asks. Taako tries to go back through his memories of the night.

 _“Inflict Wounds, Blight, Harm, Blindness/Deafness, Finger of Death,_ and I got some of my own _Poison Spray,_ I think,” Taako rattles off. Merle raises his hands over him.

“I cast _Heal,”_ Merle says, and Taako feels the blindness and deafness fully wear off, and the diseases that had been coursing through him with _Harm_ vanish from his body. He could cry, he feels so fucking good in comparison, less like he’s rotting from the inside out. Merle keeps looking him over, then casts _Regenerate,_ and Taako’s splintering pains lessen.

“Okay, I’m just gonna—” Merle says, casting _Mass Heal Wounds_ over Taako, and Taako exhales shakily. He’s still in agonizing pain, but none of it is new, and he’s not being consumed by magic anymore, just regular old excruciating agony. He laughs dryly at himself, the sound a raw scrape through his throat.

“What happened?” Lucretia asks. She leans over and unties the rope around Taako’s wrists, frees up his arms, and Taako’s body unfolds from itself. Magnus keeps stroking Taako’s hair, then leans in once Lucretia moves out of the way. He kisses him so hard Taako tastes blood. When Magnus pulls back, he’s crying even harder.

“Hey, it’s good,” Taako says. “We’ve seen worse, my man, this is not the most terrible thing to happen to any one of us. Remember when you were a mannequin? Because I—”

“I don’t want to—” Magnus says, then stops. He presses his hands to his eyes. “I don’t want to see you like that again _ever,_ Taako. Not ever. Doesn’t matter if I’ve seen it before, I just—”

“Hey, big guy, you’re good,” Merle says. “He’s fine. Took care of it myself.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m good,” Taako teases. Merle smacks him on the leg with the Extreme Teen Bible.

“You could be _grateful,”_ Merle says. “I did just save your fucking life.”

“Can you two not joke right now?” Magnus snaps. “For once? Taako almost died, and I didn’t even—” Magnus cuts himself off, stands up and paces off to the wall. “I didn’t even know where you were. I thought you were fine.”

“I _am_ fine,” Taako says. He’d honestly sooner die than admit any sort of— of _vulnerability,_ of weakness, of powerlessness. He’s supposed to be the most powerful fucking wizard in the universe or some shit, and he got jumped by some band of necromancers in the woods. He’s pretty pissed at himself, and still in a lot of pain, and he doesn’t need Magnus losing his shit, too.

“Taako, I’m not going to lose you,” Magnus says, staring at the fireplace. “I’m not.”

“You didn’t,” Taako says, softly. “I’m good.”

Magnus exhales heavily, turns, and starts saying something, but then there’s a hole being ripped in the middle of the living room and Kravitz comes hurtling through, lurching to Taako’s side and yanking him into his arms.

“Hey, whoah, I’m good,” Taako tells him. Kravitz buries his face in the juncture between Taako’s neck and his shoulder, holding him so tight Taako swears his bones grind together.

Kravitz stays there for a long, long while, and Taako lets him. Lup is sitting on the coffee table behind him, and she’s stopped crying, but her nose and eyes are all red. Taako smiles at her. Eventually, Kravitz pulls back, holds Taako’s face in his hands.

“I destroyed them,” Kravitz says. “I promise. I brought them to the Raven Queen myself. Their souls have been stripped. They can’t hurt you anymore.” Kravitz looks him over, looks at his face, then down at his body, and Taako wonders what he sees. Magnus comes back to him, and Taako feels a little boxed in. “Is the— Is the baby okay? Did you check?” Kravitz looks back to Merle. “Did you check?”

“Oh, shit, sorry,” Merle says.

“I already—” Taako starts saying, but Merle’s already cast _Detect Heartbeat,_ and he’s nodding.

“All set,” Merle says. “Two heartbeats.”

 _“What?”_ Taako asks.

“Yours and the kid’s,” Merle explains. Taako wants to smack him.

“You play risky fucking games with me, old man,” Taako tells him. Merle grins right back at him.

“What were you _thinking?”_ Magnus asks abruptly, interrupting the moment. “Letting yourself get into danger like that?”

“I didn’t _mean_ to,” Taako shoots back. Magnus looks down at him, and they stare at each other, hard, for a long moment, before Magnus kneels down beside him.

“I’m sorry,” Magnus says. Taako reaches up, tangles the fingers of one hand in Magnus’ hair. “I just— Seeing you like that, and thinking you’d— I _hate_ feeling that way.”

“Yeah,” Taako replies. “Yeah, me too, bud.”

“Good thing we were on a job there,” Barry comments. Lup smacks him. Taako hears one of the kids crying down the hall; he thinks it might be Jules, and he starts to stand, but no less than four hands shoot out to push him back down.

“I’ve got it,” Lucretia says, vanishing down the hall.

“Good call on bringing her,” Barry tells Lup. Angus climbs up onto the couch, wriggling in between Kravitz and Taako, and settles against Taako’s side.

“Good thinking on _Dispel Magic,_ little dude,” Taako says. Angus gives him a small smile.

“You taught me that one, sir,” Angus says. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Don’t count your chickens, Ango, I still feel like I got run over by a fucking fantasy truck,” Taako tells him. Merle turns, takes one of the other jars from Barry, and spins the cap off, handing it to Taako.

“Drink that,” Merle instructs him. Taako does, with the practiced ease of someone long used to chugging the disgusting shit Merle makes him drink. Magnus makes a gagging sound.

“God, what’s _in_ that?” Magnus asks. Magnus has blood on his hands, his arms, his chest, his face. Barry does, too, and Lup, and Merle, and Kravitz, and Taako shuts his eyes, leaning against the back of the sofa. Immediately, three separate voices ask him what’s wrong.

“I got fucking pummeled almost to death, I’m tired,” Taako tells them. “Jeez, guy can’t fucking close his eyes in this house without the fucking peanut gallery putting it to a vote.”

“He’s fine,” Merle says. “Complains just as much as ever.”

“To be fair, he does complain this much when he’s sick,” Angus says. “He’s not limited.”

“The correct word is _multi-talented,_ bubbeleh,” Taako tells him. He pulls Angus into his side and presses his cheek to the top of his head. He can feel the adrenaline surging out of him in waves, leaving behind just the horrible pain and the aching emotional turmoil. So, no big deal.

“Why don’t we let Taako get some sleep?” Merle says. Barry takes a look at Taako’s face, and the two of them make eye contact, and Barry nods.

“Yeah, it’s bedtime,” Barry says. “I’ll go— I’ll get Lucretia set up in the guest room, if you want the sofa, Merle?”

“Fine by me,” Merle says, heaving himself to his feet. “Should we clean the blood off of it first?”

Angus lifts the wand in his hand and casts _Prestidigitation,_ and the couch is clean. Merle claps him on the shoulder.

“Good work, kid, you’re not completely useless,” Merle says. Angus raises his eyebrows at him.

“That’s no way to speak to your grandson, sir,” Angus says, then turns and high-fives Taako, who’s cackling at the look on Merle’s face.

“You’re raising him all fucked up,” Merle says. “Mookie would _never—”_

“Mookie’s insane, old man, go to bed,” Lup interrupts him. She worms in between Taako and Kravitz, shoves Kravitz out of the way to hug Taako. “Don’t scare me like that, you fucking nimrod.”

“Did it _just_ to scare you, actually, so I’m glad it worked,” Taako shoots back. He hugs her back, though, lets her squeeze him tight. Lup helps him to his feet, hugs him again.

“I’m not spending any more time apart from you,” Lup says. She kisses him on the cheek. “You better be more fucking careful.”

“How _dare_ I go teach at my school,” Taako says back. Lup raises an eyebrow at him.

“How’d they get you, anyways?” Lup asks. Taako glances at Kravitz, then away, feeling his face get warm. “Taako. What’d they do?”

“Just made it— Sounded like a fucking kid was crying in the woods,” Taako mumbles. Lup smacks him on the arm. _“Ow,_ you fucking beast woman, you have too much power in your swing for that shit.”

“You’re becoming a good person,” Lup says. “That’s the oldest trick in the book, though, _Dad._ Stop falling for it.”

“Make me,” Taako replies, and Lup kisses his cheek again, then hugs him again, then Barry, back from helping Lucretia to bed, has to peel her off of him.

“I’ll check on you in the morning,” Lup says. She points at him. “If you see a trail of candies leading into the woods, _don’t_ follow it, okay?”

“Fuck you,” he shoots back, and she laughs, letting Barry haul her off. Angus scoots off of the sofa and smiles up at Taako.

“I’ll go to bed, too,” he says. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“Sure thing, Agnes,” Taako says. He ruffles the kid’s hair, and Angus lets him before he trots off to bed.

“You’re in my spot,” Merle says, eventually, shoving Magnus out of the way so he can climb up onto the sofa. Magnus gets up and gets him a blanket. “Hey, if you need anything in the middle of the night, kid, do me a favor and don’t.”

“You’re so loving,” Taako comments. “What an amazing healer. It’s a wonder you’re not known worldwide for your bedside—”

“Don’t you have a fucking trance to get into or something?” Merle interrupts him. Taako waves at him as Magnus takes his hand and pulls him down the hall. Kravitz stops in the bathroom for something, but Magnus just keeps going, brings Taako into their room and sits him on the bed.

“Can you—” Magnus says, then motions at Taako’s face. Taako frowns, and tries to cast _Prestidigitation,_ but he’s out of spell slots.

“No,” Taako tells him. “Not until after I get some rest.”

“It’s fine,” Kravitz says, as he shoulders the door open. He’s got their first aid trunk and a bowl of water in his hands, two towels slung over his shoulder. He sets everything down, then kneels between Taako’s legs and starts cleaning him off, slowly, careful of the spots where his skin is split open or bruised. Taako sits quietly, lets Kravitz work while Magnus paces back and forth beside the bed.

“You’re making me nervous,” Taako comments, eventually, and Magnus stops, looks down at him, and sighs.

“Sorry,” Magnus says, then sits down on the mattress next to him. Kravitz keeps working; Taako’s skin is almost completely clean, and Kravitz is dead silent, hands wet and bloody between them. “I just— I just keep thinking about it. When I saw you down the hill. You looked like—” Magnus stops, looks down at his hands. “Just. I didn’t—” Magnus groans in frustration. “I don’t want to see you like that, and I don’t want to see you hurt, and I wasn’t there to help you, and our baby could’ve been hurt, too, and I don’t know what I’d do with myself if you died, and I can’t let you die, Taako.” Magnus stops, taking a second to catch his breath before he says, “I can’t, b— I just. I _can’t.”_

“Whoah,” Taako says. “Just— Take a breather, my man, that’s a lot at once.”

“I feel a little better,” Magnus admits. “I’m just— You didn’t see what I saw, and it was fucking _horrible,_ Taako.”

“Didn’t feel so good, either,” Taako tells him. Magnus leans his head on Taako’s shoulder.

“Sorry,” Magnus says. “I’m a little overprotective.”

“You think?” Taako replies.

“But still,” Magnus says. “I think I have every right to be, to be quite honest with you.”

“It was terrible, Taako,” Kravitz agrees. Taako looks down at him, and Kravitz is looking at the towel in his hands. After a moment, he puts it aside in the bowl of pink water beside him. He lifts up the second towel, the dry one, and starts patting Taako’s skin dry. “I didn’t— I never expected. To see anything like that. To show up for a bounty and find  _you_ there, I was just—” Kravitz shakes his head, keeps patting. “I like to think I have the darker side of myself well-contained. I did not tonight, and I’m sorry for that.”

“Don’t apologize,” Magnus says, before Taako even can. “I wish I’d’ve been there, I would’ve— I would’ve torn them to shreds, I still want to, just— just rip them up, punch ‘em right in the face—”

“I destroyed them,” Kravitz says, and that _darker side_ he mentioned is evident in his voice, clear on his face. “I rended their souls from their bodies. I tore them limb from limb, and did the same with their minds, and the same again with their souls. I brought their essences before the Raven Queen and asked for her greatest punishment, and she granted it. Their souls will fester for all of eternity, existing in eternal anguish until the end of time itself.”

Taako stares down at Kravitz’s face, feeling bewildered and frightened and more than a little in love with him. Magnus whistles.

“Better than anything I could’ve done,” Magnus comments. Kravitz looks away, and Magnus leans forward, puts a hand on Kravitz’s shoulder. “Hey, man, they deserved it. You saw what they did to him."

“My judgment was impaired,” Kravitz says. He sets the towel aside and flips open the first aid chest, starts pulling out bandages and adhesives and creams.

“Your judgment was… uhh,  _enhanced,”_ Magnus offers. Kravitz glances at him, briefly, before he starts applying one of the creams to Taako’s open wounds. Taako hisses, but Kravitz holds him still, gently applying the cream to each spot he can find. “Really. It’s not a weakness to be emotional, you know. It’s a good thing.”

“Maybe,” Kravitz allows. He stands up, starts helping Taako out of his clothes so he can get at the wounds underneath. Taako lets him, lets Kravitz move him around like a rag doll until he’s sitting on the bed, naked, dirty hair hanging down around him, open wounds still sluggishly sending surges of pain through him, his skin mottled from bruises.

“Go gentle,” Magnus says. He takes Taako’s hand and lets Taako squeeze it as Kravitz cleans each wound, and packs them, and puts creams on them, and wraps them in bandages. He puts a different cream on the bruises, and then he uses some of the water to work the dirt out of Taako’s hair. He sets to cleaning up the mess he’s made of the floor while Magnus pulls Taako back against him and starts combing through his hair. He separates it out and braids it loosely for him, the tail of the plait reaching the small of Taako’s back once he’s finished.

“You look like shit,” Magnus comments. Taako smacks at him. “No, like— I’m sorry. I’m just still a little—” He makes a teetering motion with his hand. Taako shoves him backwards, and Magnus goes, scooting up against the pillows at the head of their bed. He stops there and opens his arms, and Taako crawls into them, _finally_ relaxing once he’s there. The potion Merle gave him earlier is starting to kick in, and he feels better, loose-limbed and hazy-brained and tired.

Kravitz puts out the lights, then appears at the bedside. He climbs in, laying next to Taako kind of stiffly. Taako reaches out, fists a hand in Kravitz’s shirt and tugs him closer, pulls at him until Kravitz curls around Taako’s other side. Taako shivers, but Kravitz just pulls the covers out from under them and then up over them, tucking them around Taako particularly well.

“I’m sorry,” Taako whispers, now that it’s dark and he doesn’t have to see their faces. Magnus reaches a hand up, starts rubbing Taako’s shoulder in small circles. Kravitz buries his face in the back of Taako’s neck.

“Don’t apologize,” Kravitz says. “I should’ve—”

“No _should’ve,”_ Magnus interrupts him. “You found him. That’s awesome. Let’s make sure it never happens again.”

There a beat of silence, then Kravitz replies, “Okay.”

“Cool,” Magnus says. He stretches his arm out further, gets it around Kravitz and pulls him in close. Taako’s still aching, the pain still flooding his system, but Merle’s potion is doing a good job at chilling him out so well he barely feels it. “You gonna do a trance or sleep?”

“I’m going to sleep,” Taako tells him. “Fucking tired.”

“I can imagine,” Kravitz says. He reaches around, settles one hand over Taako’s heart for a moment, presumably so he can feel it beating. He shifts after a little while of that, drags his hand down to the subtle swell of Taako’s stomach, and he sighs. “I’ll keep you safe.”

“Same,” Magnus says. Taako shuts his eyes and buries his face in Magnus’ side. He doesn’t say anything, but Magnus’ heartbeat is a little faster than usual, and Kravitz’s grip a little tighter, and both of them are clearly wide awake, but Taako lets himself drift in between them. He hears them whispering to each other, but he doesn’t bother focusing enough to listen in on them. He just lets himself go, forgets about the night and forgets about the pain and just lets the feeling of them around him surround him until he falls asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I also actually wrote two books! It was a long road but, I did it! Ta-da! If you want to read either of them, shoot me a message!
> 
> I have a blog now to request imagines - I just like to make people happy. Submit requests [here!](https://imagine-in-the-fandoms.tumblr.com/ask)
> 
> You can follow me on Twitter at [@nicolelianesolo](https://twitter.com/nicoIodeon) or on Tumblr at [andillwriteyouatragedy](http://andillwriteyouatragedy.tumblr.com/).


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